Police use tear gas as Brazilians protest in Rio

RIO DE JANEIRO — A colorful and noisy protest of about 500 people turned violent when police used canisters of tear gas and pepper spray on demonstrators in the Lapa neighborhood Thursday, hours before the first World Cup game in Sao Paulo.

A protester wearing a mask picked up one of the tear gas canisters and threw it back at police. Many came prepared with gas masks, helmets and spray bottles to clean their faces after police used pepper spray.

“We already expected this to happen,” said Eloisa Samy, a lawyer in a gas mask who collects evidence of abuse in demonstrations. She said it did not surprise her that the international sporting event already has begun with tumult. “I don’t think they care at all” about their image abroad, she said, referring to scenes of repression by police while so many news media were covering the event.

The protesters marched from Rio’s Candelaria church to the downtown Cinelândia plaza. Early in the day, the protests were peaceful as demonstrators played samba drums and blew on horns while holding signs often in English. A demonstrator in a Batman costume climbed on top of a bus with a placard in English: “It doesn’t make sense to be the soccer country if there is no health and education.”

A chant boomed from a megaphone: “I’ll give up the World Cup, I want more money for health and education!”

Another banner from a group of favela (low-income community residents) read: “Billions for construction companies and crumbs for the favelas.”

Specialized crowd control police along with standard military police surrounded the demonstration on all sides, many in the thick black protective gear that have become to be known as “robo-cop” uniforms, a contrast to the demonstrators in plumed samba headdresses and twirling hula hoops.

In Sao Paulo, police used tear gas and stun grenades on a group of about 300 protesters as they moved to block a road to the Itaquerão stadium where Brazil and Croatia will play later, the Associated Press reported.

Outside the Itaquerão, it was a sea of yellow as fans gathered before the game. As expected, there were lots of No. 10 jerseys in the crowd, the number worn by Neymar. The scene was in sharp contrast to the protesters, as a woman in Brazilian colors painted a Croatian fan’s face.

A few dozen soldiers in flak jackets and helmets watched the crowd as some fans blew air horns while they waited for Brazil’s first World Cup game at home in 64 years.

Croatian fans, of course, were outnumbered but they gamely made their presence known. Dressed in their familiar red-and-white checked shirts and singing songs, a group gathered on a hill outside the stadium waving to Brazilian fans.

Some brought flags from Croatian clubs and hung them from the bottom of the second deck of the stadium. The Itaquerão was vastly improved from a day earlier, with most signs of construction gone. The plywood boards that littered the first-floor concourse were gone, as well as the big pallets that were outside the entrance to the suites. There was no longer the sound of hammering.